MUMBAI: Nagpur and Gopalganj are 1,041 kilometers apart, but two young fast bowlers from these towns came together on Monday night to write history in IPL 2026. Vidarbha’s Praful Hinge (24) and Bihar’s Sakib Hussain (21) made sensational debuts against Sunrisers Hyderabad rajasthan royals In Hyderabad, became the first bowling pair to take four wickets each on their IPL debut.Hinge’s figures of 4 for 34 and Sakib’s impressive figures of 4 for 24 underlined the IPL’s impact not just on explosive young batsmen such as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Mukul Choudhary but also on emerging bowlers. The duo helped RR beat RR by 159 runs and powered SRH, who signed them at a base price of Rs 30 lakh, to win by 57 runs.
Vidarbha head coach Usman Ghani praised Hinji, saying: “I have been seeing him since the junior level. He has a great future. We are about to get a big batch of fast bowlers. There is a fierce competition among our pacers for a spot in the Vidarbha team. He performed well for us in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy (Praful took 16 wickets in six games at 26.37, with a best of 4 in 60 games). “Hinge played just one match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but caught the attention of IPL scouts. “In SMAT, since we had a lot of experienced pacers, we could only give Singhi a chance to play the last league game (he took 1-23 in four overs against Andhra) as we did not qualify for the knockout rounds. However, the IPL scouts who came to watch that match (Lucknow) were very impressed with him,” Ghani said.Highlighting his strengths, Ghani added, “Praful bowls pretty fast. He is slippery and has a good bouncer. He has practiced it a lot and bowls in the manner of an ideal bouncer – not over the head and considered wide, but bowled fairly and with good height. He practices his yorker regularly. He is improving every day.” He is a good disciplined boy and is receptive (of advice) which is very important for a cricketer.“On the advice of former India pacer Prashant Vaidya, Hinge joined the MRF Pace Foundation in 2023 and was trained by Glenn McGrath in Australia. An injury after his return ruled him out of the Ranji Trophy knockout rounds, but he has since bounced back strongly.
Saqib’s rise highlights Bihar’s growing talent pool
Meanwhile, Saqib’s rise highlights Bihar’s growing talent pool beyond Suryavanshi. Bihar coach Vinayak Samant said: “Sakib is a very good fast bowler. He has the ability to generate good pace but he also has good slower pace. He is also a good fielder. He is a real T20 specialist. He performed well for us in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (Hussain took 5 wickets in five games). During the SMAT, Varun Aaron Came to Ranchi, Kolkata specially to watch the Sakhipur match. Hussain impressed and SRH picked him at the auction. “Samant added: “There is a lot of fast bowling talent in Bihar. There is another young pacer from Bihar in Mohammad Izhar who is part of the Mumbai Indians. He is not as fast as Hussain but he is a good bowler. I hope he gets a chance to debut for MI at some stage. He is the highest wicket-taker in Bihar (he took nine wickets in five games, the best) and we managed 4-39 in SMAT last season. “Former Bihar Cricket Association official Anand Yalvigi said: “Both Hussain and Izhar are very good fast bowling prospects. I am keeping an eye on both of them. I am in touch with Bihar selectors (represented by BCCI) Chetan Sharma and Harvinder Singh The need for both of them to represent Bihar in the Ranji Trophy was discussed. Saqib scored 6 for 41 in the first game in Patna (against Arunachal) in the Ranji Trophy (board group).”The challenge now for Hinge and Sakib is to build on this dream debut and sustain their performance. “Let’s see. There is still a long way to go for Hinge. He has to keep performing consistently,” Ghani said.
